Evening Devotion

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
¹ Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
² It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
³ Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴ Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
¹ Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
³ I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
⁴ More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
⁵ O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
⁶ Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
⁷ For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons.
⁹ For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
¹⁰ When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.
¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.
¹² I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.
¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
¹⁴ Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶ Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
¹⁷ Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
¹⁸ Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!
¹⁹ You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.
²⁰ Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
²¹ They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
²² Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
²³ Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
²⁴ Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them.
²⁵ May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.
²⁶ For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
²⁷ Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you.
²⁸ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
²⁹ But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
³⁰ I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
³¹ This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
³² When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
³³ For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
³⁵ For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it;
³⁶ the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it. (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
¹ Be not silent, O God of my praise!
² For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
³ They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
⁴ In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
⁵ So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
⁶ Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
⁷ When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!
⁸ May his days be few; may another take his office!
⁹ May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!
¹⁰ May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
¹¹ May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
¹² Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!
¹³ May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
¹⁵ Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
¹⁶ For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
¹⁷ He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
¹⁸ He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
¹⁹ May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day!
²⁰ May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!
²¹ But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
²² For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.
²³ I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.
²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!
²⁷ Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!
²⁸ Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
³⁰ With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

A Psalm of David.
¹ The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
² The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
³ Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
⁴ The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
⁵ The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
⁶ He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
⁷ He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head. (ESV)

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
¹⁶ But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
¹⁷ And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’
¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’
²⁰ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
²¹ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’
²² And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’
²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (ESV)

¹ God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”
² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves and change your garments.
³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, so that I may make there an altar to the God who answers me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”
⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
⁵ And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were around them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
⁶ And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,
⁷ and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.
⁸ And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So he called its name Allon-bacuth.
⁹ God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.
¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
¹² The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”
¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.
¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
¹⁵ So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had hard labor.
¹⁷ And when her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for you have another son.”
¹⁸ And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
¹⁹ So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),
²⁰ and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.
²¹ Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant: Dan and Naphtali.
²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
²⁷ And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were 180 years.
²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last, and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (ESV)

³³ And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them,
³⁷ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us.
⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
⁴² “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
⁴³ And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,
⁴⁸ ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.
⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (ESV)

¹ And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people,
² except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,
³ or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).
⁴ He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself.
⁵ They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body.
⁶ They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
⁷ They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
⁸ You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
¹⁰ “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes.
¹¹ He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother.
¹² He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD.
¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
¹⁴ A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people,
¹⁵ that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”
¹⁶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.
¹⁸ For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long,
¹⁹ or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand,
²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles.
²¹ No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
²² He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,
²³ but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”
²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
² “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they dedicate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name: I am the LORD.
³ Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the LORD, while he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.
⁴ None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a discharge may eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or a man who has had an emission of semen,
⁵ and whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be—
⁶ the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.
⁷ When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because they are his food.
⁸ He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the LORD.’
⁹ They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
¹⁰ “A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing,
¹¹ but if a priest buys a slave as his property for money, the slave may eat of it, and anyone born in his house may eat of his food.
¹² If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things.
¹³ But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it.
¹⁴ And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest.
¹⁵ They shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the LORD,
¹⁶ and so cause them to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”
¹⁷ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the LORD,
¹⁹ if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats.
²⁰ You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.
²¹ And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.
²² Animals blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the LORD or give them to the LORD as a food offering on the altar.
²³ You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted.
²⁴ Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the LORD; you shall not do it within your land,
²⁵ neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”
²⁶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
²⁷ “When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the LORD.
²⁸ But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day.
²⁹ And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
³⁰ It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the LORD.
³¹ “So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD.
³² And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you,
³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD.” (ESV)

¹ And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.
² And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”
³ And the chief priests accused him of many things.
⁴ And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.”
⁵ But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
⁶ Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked.
⁷ And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.
⁸ And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them.
⁹ And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
¹⁰ For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.
¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.
¹² And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”
¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”
¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”
¹⁵ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
¹⁶ And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.
¹⁷ And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.
¹⁸ And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
¹⁹ And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.
²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).
²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
²⁴ And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.
²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified him.
²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”
²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
²⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,
³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.
³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. (ESV)

¹⁹ Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!
²⁰ In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
²¹ Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.
²² I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
²³ Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (ESV)

¹ And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
² And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
³ The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
⁴ And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.
⁵ And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
⁶ There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.
⁷ We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.
⁸ Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
⁹ Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
¹⁰ saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
¹¹ But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
¹² And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
¹³ Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore.
¹⁴ But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.
¹⁵ And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
¹⁶ Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat.
¹⁷ After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
¹⁸ Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
¹⁹ And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
²¹ Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss.
²² Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
²³ For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,
²⁴ and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
²⁵ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.
²⁶ But we must run aground on some island.”
²⁷ When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.
²⁸ So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.
²⁹ And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,
³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
³³ As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing.
³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”
³⁵ And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.
³⁶ Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.
³⁷ (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)
³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
³⁹ Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore.
⁴⁰ So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.
⁴¹ But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.
⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.
⁴³ But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,
⁴⁴ and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

¹ After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
² The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.
³ When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
⁴ When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
⁵ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
⁸ It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.
⁹ And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
¹⁰ They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
¹¹ After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.
¹² Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.
¹³ And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.
¹⁴ There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.
¹⁵ And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.
¹⁶ And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
¹⁷ After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
¹⁸ When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.
¹⁹ But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation.
²⁰ For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”
²¹ And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.
²² But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”
²³ When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.
²⁴ And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.
²⁵ And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
²⁶ “‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
²⁷ For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’
²⁸ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
³⁰ He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him,
³¹ proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
¹ Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
² We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
³ Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
⁵ But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
⁶ He will render to each one according to his works:
⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
¹¹ For God shows no partiality.
¹² For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
¹³ For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
¹⁴ For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
¹⁵ They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
¹⁷ But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
¹⁸ and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;
¹⁹ and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
²¹ you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
²² You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
²³ You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
²⁴ For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
²⁵ For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
²⁶ So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
²⁷ Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
²⁸ For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
²⁹ But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (ESV)